The title makes a bold claim, I admit. But go with me here.
This is the Tea Rose Slip On by Retro Claude, knitted in Stylecraft Special XL which is super chunky 100% acrylic yarn. Definitely not what you think of when you think knitted jumper!
I only tried this as an experiment because I happened to have the yarn lying around after buying it for an abandoned wedding-related idea at the start of the year. Figured I had nothing to lose!
It was an EXTREMELY quick knit, the yarn is incredibly soft and lovely, and the colour. Be still my heart ๐
The pattern is free and the designer is honest about only having tested the size S. As a result, the neckline in my size L turned out to be waaaaay too wide even for someone who loves a good wide neckline. So I just grabbed a crochet hook and slip stitched around and problem solved! Albeit in a slightly sloppy way.
So yes, conclusion, super bulky jumpers CAN work and not be frumpy and awful to wear. One day I'll post a photo of me actually wearing it to prove that last part but, as Aragorn would say, it is not this day.
(Sorry to anyone who saw this on Mastodon already for the repeat. Crossposting between the two is temporarily broken, because of course it is ๐ )
Both comments are showing for me! Thanks for that, the cable jumper I'm doing right now is a merino/acrylic blend and it's getting very heavy and thick so I'm getting a bit anxious about how wearable it'll be. I guess it's all learning.
I hope you get many wonderful wears from your jumper and have a lovely Christmas
It's not the sort of thing I'd wear when I'm doing something energetic, but that goes for most warm jumpers and not just acrylic ones! The fabric isn't as dense as it would be with smaller stitches and the double height stitches for the yoke probably help a lot with cooling things down too, so I've not had any problems wearing it for just normal day-to-day wandering around.
This Stylecraft yarn in general is by far my favourite acrylic though, I've used the aran weight version for cardigans and stuff in the past, so I already knew I liked it. Some other brands definitely feel more "plasticky" somehow so I'm not sure how those would have worked for something like this.
Thanks! I wanted to wear it for Christmas Day because it's just so comfy but have been peer pressured into wearing my actual festive dress instead. Gonna wear it all day Boxing Day though! :D